Nursing and Research

Research Paper # 99526

Medical and Health
Medical and Health > Nursing

An analysis of the practical use of research within the nursing profession.

920 words () | 3 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper presents anecdotal and research-based evidence of the lack of current involvement in research and in the implementation of research findings among nurses. It also presents suggestions for the improvement of nurse-exposure to current research and concludes that hospital support of time off for research in any one of several methods would result in a positive change in the quality of care given by nurses.

From the Paper:

"Nurses, like so many other members of the medical field, have increasingly come under the competing pressures of being on-top of the latest developments in their field, and the competing reality of being over-worked and under-staffed in the majority of their environments. While the profession would like to see all nurses taking courses, reading journals, and taking part in their overall and ongoing professional development, the demands of the job simply do not lend themselves to such pursuits. However, the improvement in quality of nursing over the past century can be demonstrated in a variety of studies. So, even with the increasing difficulty of the job, nurses are finding time to improve their skills. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Holloway, I. & Wheeler, S. (2002). Qualitative Research in Nursing 2nd Ed.. Williston, VT: Blackwell Publishing.
Thompson, C., McCaughan, D., Cullum, N., Sheldon, T., Thompson, D. & Mulhall, A. (2003). Nurses' Use of Research Information in Clinical Decision Making: A Descriptive and Analytical Study. Report to the NHS R&D Programme in Evaluating Methods to Promote the Implementation of R&D. Online. Internet. Avail: http://www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences/centres/evidence/decrpt.pdf#search=%22increase%20use%20of%20research%20in%20nursing%22. Info Acc: 1 Oct, 2006.
Yeah, J. (2000) Nursing Information Needs: What Next? Health Libraries Review, 17, pp14-16.